Switching gaffs

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hosocat

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Oct 28, 2018
Messages
216
Reaction score
197
Location
Alabama
I have Klein steel spikes with pole gaffs installed from the factory. About 3-4 years old. I want to try tree gaffs. The pole gaffs are held on with two torx screw. Those suckeres are tight!!! I can't get them off, even with an impact driver. I squirted some wd40 on them, and I'm letting them sit overnight. Anyone else experienced this? How did you get them loose?
 
They can get hard to remove over time if they've never been out. Might soak them in diesel overnight. Or try heating the bolts and letting them cool a couple times. I'm assuming since they're Klein that they're steel shank. Aluminum shank wouldn't handle as much heat.
 
I got them off a couple hours ago. Had to use my half inch impact wrench. They had never been removed, plus I think Klein put some kind of permanent thread lock on them.
 
I love my Klein climbers, and they were also equipped with pole gaffs, I used a propane torch and a hammer drive to remove them. I used blue loctite, and torqued them to spec. in my opinion they are the best tree gaffs I have used. I love the angle and find them to be easy to climb with, let me know what you think.
 
Mine are the Blue and gray steel climbers BTW!
Mine are the basic Klein steel climbers. I replaced the standard t shin pads with Weaver super pads. That was a big improvement. I've been using the tree gaffs for a few months and I prefer them to the pole gaffs. Partly psychological cuz I know the spike is in wood, and I'm not worried that I'm putting my weight into a chunk of bark. Sometimes they do leave my feet sort of pivoting on a pole away from the tree, but that doesn't bother me. These are the only gaffs I've ever used, so I can't really compare them to anything else. I only use them a few times in a typical month. If I used them every day I'd probably look at some aluminum ones.
 
That loctite will soften up with a heat gun.

I've got buckinghams with their "hybrid" gaff. Best of both worlds, but I'd rather tree gaffs over pole in most species.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top